Market Wagon Review 2023: Is this Online Farmer's Market Worth it?
/Back in September 2021 I was scrolling Facebook and saw an ad for Market Wagon which piqued my interest. Market Wagon is best described as an online farmer’s market. Browse locally grown and locally made goodies online, click buy, and your order is delivered right to your home. I love supporting local farms and businesses so I decided to check it out.
It’s a year and a half later and I’m a huge fan of Market Wagon. I place orders regularly and love the convenience of shopping local merchants right from my phone.
Market Wagon has hubs in 16 U.S. states plus Washington D.C., and partners with more than 2,500 local farmers and artisans to deliver their goods to 45,000+ doorsteps.
In this post I'll share my experience with Market Wagon, show you some of the produce, pantry items, and baked good I've purchased, and hopefully answer all your questions if you are considering using Market Wagon.
Updated: February 2023
Table of Contents:
What is Market Wagon?
Is Market Wagon available in my area?
What products does Market Wagon carry? (Hint: a lot!)
How EXACTLY does Market Wagon work?
How much does Market Wagon cost?
Market Wagon provides information on the farms and local artisans who offer goods for sale.
What happens if I have a problem with my order?
Your Market Wagon order supports local farms and businesses.
Reasons why you should eat locally grown and produced food.
What happens if I am missing an item or have a problem with my Market Wagon order?
Shopping with Market Wagon vs. shopping an in-person farmer’s market.
My experience and do I recommend Market Wagon?
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. This means if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosures here.
What is Market Wagon?
Market Wagon is an online farmer's market. Farmers and vendors in your local area list their produce, meats, prepared foods, and pantry items on the Market Wagon website for you to order online or through their app. You can search for specific items, like tomatoes and cucumbers, or browse categories such as produce, bakery, or dairy & eggs.
Place your Market Wagon order at your convenience and it will be delivered to your home or office on your personal delivery day of the week. (Mine is Thursday.) Your order is packed in an insulated tote with ice packs so produce, meat, and dairy items will stay chilled and fresh.
Shopping Market Wagon is a convenient way to enjoy locally sourced fruits, veggies, and other goods you might find at an in-person farmer's market without the hassle of driving and parking, dealing with crowds, extreme weather, and carrying heavy bags of food.
Purchasing from local farmers and artisans through Market Wagon helps boost your local economy, and eating locally grown and sourced food is healthier too!
Is Market Wagon available in my area?
As of November 2021, Market Wagon serves parts of 16 states plus Washington, D.C. It’s likely other states will be added in the future, so use the link below to check if service is available in your zip code.
Alabama
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Washington D.C.
Wisconsin
To see if they provide service to your area, simply visit the Market Wagon website by clicking the button below and enter your zip code.
What products does Market Wagon carry?
Market Wagon has multiple farmers and artisans who provide a wide variety of foods grown and produced locally.
You’ll find much more than just fresh fruits and veggies. Market Wagon features handmade sausages, freshly baked bread, pantry items like dried herbs and seasoning mixes, local-made cheeses, and farm-fresh milk and eggs. You will even find prepared foods like soups, enchiladas, and ready-to-bake pies.
Items available for sale vary according to your region so definitely enter your zip to explore your local Market Wagon hub.
I am in Kansas City, Missouri, and below I’ve listed just some of the products I can purchase each week on Market Wagon.
Strip steak over homemade hash browns using potatoes from JET Produce & Meats, pan-seared shiitake mushrooms from GreenWaysKC, garlic from JET Produce & Meats, and fresh parsley from my garden.
Market Wagon has meats.
All of the meats and meat products you find on Market Wagon are from locally sourced cattle, pork, and poultry. You’ll see grass-fed beef (steaks, roasts, stew meat), turkey, pork, chicken, handmade sausages and hot dogs, bacon, and jerky.
Market Wagon has dairy and eggs.
Enjoy locally sourced and produced milk (including chocolate and other flavored milk), pasture-raised eggs, heavy cream, yogurt, fresh mozzarella, a wide variety of cheeses made with locally-sourced milk, cheese curds (I am obsessed with Hemme Brothers applewood smoked cheese curds), butter (including flavored butter) and eggnog.
Market Wagon has fresh produce.
I discovered Market Wagon in September which is close to the end of the growing season here in Missouri. I can’t wait for spring to see the bounty of farm-fresh greens, vegetables, and fruits that will be available. Even in the fall, there is lots of fresh local produce to choose from!
Vegetables: Market Wagon vendors sell beautifully red, ripe tomatoes (if you are used to grocery store tomatoes you will never go back!), potatoes (sweet, yellow, purple), greens like lettuce, kale, arugula, garlic, carrots, turnips, many varieties of squash, radishes, green beans, celery, onions, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, microgreens, and much more.
RELATED: Microgreens are amazingly healthy! Are Microgreens Keto? 10 Ways to Eat Microgreens (and why you should).
Homemade applesauce made with Jonathan apples from JET Produce & Meats.
Fruit: Market Wagon farmers offer apples (Jonathan, Granny Smith, Fuji, Braeburn, Suncrisp, Jonagold, and others), strawberries, blackberries, pie pumpkins, blueberries, and even dried fruits.
We are huge fans of The Sourdough Spot. This is freshly baked Kalamata olive sourdough.
Market Wagon has locally-produced baked goods.
Breads: I write for a keto blog but my family loved freshly baked bread! And I love being able to support local artisans when we're looking for bakery products. You’ll find sourdough in many delicious flavors (I am a huge fan of the cheddar & jalapeno sourdough from The Sourdough Spot), sweet breads (banana, pumpkin, zucchini, apple, peach), Italian Bread, Challah braid, white and wheat bread, dinner rolls, and breadsticks.
Sweet Treats: Market Wagon artisans produce pies in many flavors (pumpkin, blackberry, pecan, cherry, apple), cakes like cheesecake and coffee cakes, tons of home-baked cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, and even candies like toffee, peanut brittle, and peppermint bark.
Market Wagon has ready-to-eat prepared foods.
If you don’t love to cook, have Market Wagon delivery meals for the week! Local restaurants and artisans produce delicious creations like enchiladas, chicken pot pie, chili, breakfast burritos, soups, meatballs, quiche, fried rice, casseroles, pizza kits, and dips.
Despite the snowflake plate, it’s not Christmas! This simple and delicious snack was homegrown tomatoes from Busch Farms, Applewood smoked salt from Veloute, microgreens from Farms by Amber , and aged cheddar from JET Produce & Meats.
Market Wagon has pantry items.
I've discovered some really cool foods I didn’t even know I needed while browsing Market Wagon's pantry items tab! You will find homemade energy bites, fresh salsa, bacon snack sticks and beef jerky, granola, local honey, popcorn, gourmet mustard, kombucha, dried herbs, spices, and seasoning mixes, and even flavor-infused salts (roasted garlic, cabernet, lemon, smoked applewood, wild mushroom). I have the smoked Applewood sea salt and it is amazing on meat, seafood, and veggies! It even inspired me to make my own homemade jalapeno salt which I made with jalapenos from my garden.
Market Wagon has non-food items.
You will also find interesting items from local artisans like homemade dog treats, scented wax melts and candles, body butter, hand-crafted soaps, sugar scrubs, and beeswax lip balm and lotion bars.
The list of items Market Wagon offers is not at all comprehensive and is ever-changing depending on the season. More items will be added as new vendors come on board. Be sure to check out your local area to see what fresh produce and foods are available for YOU.
How EXACTLY does Market Wagon work?
You may be curious about Market Wagon’s ordering and delivery process so I’ll walk you through it step-by-step.
First, find out if Market Wagon is available in your area.
Simply go to Market Wagon and plug in your zip code to see if Market Wagon is available in your area.
Browse the local produce, meats, and prepared foods, or search for something specific.
Use your browser or download the Market Wagon app to see what delicious, nutritious locally-sourced items are available.
Scroll the Fresh Feed to see new products or items that are trending. I'm writing this a few weeks before Thanksgiving so my feed is full of turkeys, homemade pumpkin and pecan pies, and fall produce like squash and apples.
Or click one of the category tabs at the top of your screen to see:
meat
dairy & eggs
prepared foods
bakery
produce
pantry
non-food
on-sale items
popular
new arrivals
Or use the search bar to find a specific item, like cucumbers or whole milk.
Click ADD TO CART to make a purchase.
Ready to commit? Just click ADD TO CART.
Check out and get ready for your delivery!
When you're done shopping, click on your CART to begin the checkout process. If this is your first time you'll be prompted to create an account.
The delivery day and date are noted on the top of the screen. For me, delivery is always on Thursday, so I need to place my order by Tuesday evening.
Pay using Paypal or a credit card.
What to expect on delivery day.
On your delivery day, you will receive an email and/or text when your order has been packed and is out for delivery. You will be told you are stop number 10 out of 14 (or whatever) so you have a general idea when it will arrive. The email/text also reminds you to set out your reusable tote and ice packs for exchange if you’ve made a previous purchase.
You do not need to be home to accept your order. It will be left at your front door in an insulated tote. Once delivered, you will receive a notification that your goodies have arrived!
Market Wagon packs your purchases in a zipper-top insulated tote with ice packs to make sure your order arrives at a safe temperature. The totes and ice packs are reusable. Just leave them on the porch when you place your next order for the driver to pick up when they deliver your new order. This helps keep the costs down and reduces waste.
When your order arrives, unpack your purchases and enjoy!
How much does Market Wagon cost?
When you shop with Market Wagon, you pay for the cost of the food you select, a flat-rate delivery fee of $6.95, and sales tax if your state taxes food purchases. A tip for your driver is optional.
Each farm or vendor sets its own prices.
The prices for items on Market Wagon are clearly marked when you browse the Market Wagon website or app. I find the prices to be slightly higher than what I would pay at my local grocery store. I don't mind paying a little extra since I am supporting local farmers and artisans and eating locally-sourced foods.
Is there an order minimum?
There is no order minimum. You can buy a pound of homegrown tomatoes, a dozen cage-free eggs, or do your entire week's grocery shopping.
There are no subscription fees. You can purchase every week, once a month, or whenever you’re craving farm-fresh food.
Market Wagon charges a flat-rate delivery fee of $6.95.
It costs $6.95 to have your purchases delivered straight to your doorstep. For me, that delivery fee is totally worth the convenience of shopping online and not leaving the house!
If you love Market Wagon, consider purchasing a Wagon Pass.
If you try Market Wagon and order weekly or a few times a month, you can save money by purchasing a Wagon Pass.
I bought the annual Wagon Pass membership for $89.95. Not only do you have a super reduced delivery fee, but often there are special Wagon Pass exclusive deals, like a $10 coupon code off your next order.
The annual Wagon Pass membership brings the weekly delivery fee to just $1.73 (versus the normal $6.95). You save $271.45 per year.
You can also purchase a Wagon Pass membership for a fixed rate of $14.95 per month which covers all your deliveries. If you order weekly this is a savings of up to 50% over regular delivery rates. This drops your delivery cost from $6.95 per week to $3.74 per delivery.
As always, there is no minimum order amount for delivery.
Should I tip the driver?
Tipping is optional. According to the Market Wagon website:
Market Wagon drivers do not rely on tips. But you may choose to give an optional gratuity to your delivery driver in cash. Or, you can add a tip for the Market Wagon delivery team with your credit card during the checkout process.
Due to the pandemic and inflation, food costs are rising in the US.
Just as prices are higher at the grocery store, and some items you’re used to purchasing may not always be available, you may experience increased prices on Market Wagon in the future as well.
Feed costs are rising, and packaging can be more expensive due to supply chain issues.
Market Wagon provides information on the farms and local artisans who offer goods for sale.
One of the things I love about shopping locally is knowing what nearby farms or artisans are producing my food. Using Market Wagon’s platform you can learn all about any item you wish to purchase. Knowing where my food comes from and under what conditions it is grown or raised is important to me.
If you are purchasing prepared foods like sourdough bread or chimichurri sauce, you will see a list of ingredients.
Let’s explore how you can learn all about the food your purchase and where it comes from.
Click on any item to learn more about it and the farm or artisan who produced it.
I was interested in the 90% lean grass-fed ground beef. Clicking on that item I discover lots more information to help me decide whether or not I want to make a purchase.
Learn all about the product and ingredients.
The detail screen tells me this is premium grass-fed and grass-finished beef, 90% lean. It is dry-aged 14-21 days. The beef is raised free-range and minimally processed. It is 100% natural with no GMO's, additives, hormones, or antibiotics.
Learn where the item is sourced.
This ground beef is sourced from Johnson County, Kansas. I’m in Missouri, but Johnson County is right next door.
Check out vendor Q&A and customer reviews.
Reviews can be very helpful in deciding whether to purchase an item. As Market Wagon is a growing company, I notice lots of products do not have reviews yet. I try to leave reviews for items I love so that others feel more comfortable making a purchase. If you do purchase from Market Wagon, consider leaving reviews so that you can help support farms and artisans whose products you enjoy.
Learn more about the farm or artisan.
Click on the vendor (in this case River Market Beef) to read their profile and see all of the items they offer.
This purchase supported three local companies: The Sourdough Spot, Bloom Baking Company, and Taste of Brazil. The chimichurri sauce is TO DIE FOR!!!
Your Market Wagon order supports local farms and businesses.
While I like the convenience of shopping at Target, Walmart, or my local chain grocery store, I really prefer shopping local and supporting farms and small businesses in my city. These are my friends and neighbors and I want their businesses to succeed.
Market Wagon allows such farms and local artisans a much wider reach than they might have if just providing their goods at an in-person farmer's market.
Did you know that 2 billion small farms provide 70% of the world's food?
Small family farms have a hard time competing in the food marketplace. When you buy directly from farmers they have a better return for their produce and it helps them provide for their families. The more you support local farmers the stronger your local food economy will grow.
Market Wagon allows you to shop locally, keep your food dollars in your community while shopping from the convenience of your home.
Reasons why you should eat locally grown and produced food.
There are so many benefits to eating locally grown and produced food.
Local foods are fresher than foods from a grocery store. The fruits and vegetables you buy at a traditional farmers’ market or through Market Wagon are the freshest available. Produce can ripen fully in the field. There is no long-distance shipping, no gassing to simulate the ripening process, and no sitting for weeks in storage.
Local foods taste better. Foods picked when ripe and eaten within days are much tastier than similar produce found in a grocery store. Think of a red, ripe tomato from a farmer's market vs. the pale tomatoes found in a grocery store. There is absolutely no comparison.
Local food is seasonal. Seasonal food is fresher, tastier, and more nutritious than food consumed out of season. By eating according to the season (think red, ripe strawberries and tender green lettuce in the spring, and apples, butternut squash, and pumpkin in the fall) you are eating a wide variety of nutrients.
Eating locally grown and produced food helps the environment. Food in the U.S. travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to your plate. All this shipping uses large amounts of natural resources (especially fossil fuels), contributes to pollution, and creates trash with extra packaging. Food grown or produced nearby is transported much shorter distances. Packaging is greatly reduced.
Local food may be more nutritious. Sometimes fruits and vegetables lose nutrients during transportation and processing. Or while sitting on a shelf in a grocery store. Local foods are generally harvested very near the time they will be sold or consumed.
Eating locally may produce less waste and plastic packaging. Interestingly, most of the products I’ve purchased from Market Wagon have been packaged in paper bags that can be recycled or composted. Buying and eating locally can reduce packaging waste.
No, these aren’t scallops. They are king oyster mushrooms purchased from a local farmer through Market Wagon.
What happens if I am missing an item or have a problem with my Market Wagon order?
If you do not receive a product or are not 100% satisfied with the quality of the product you’ve received, you can contact Market wagon at admin.marketwagon.com/problems.
Good customer service is vital to any company’s success. I had an opportunity to experience firsthand how Market Wagon handles problems with an order.
My third order was scheduled to be delivered October 14. I put the previous week's cooler and ice pack on the porch hoping against hope the smoked cheese curds and ripe tomatoes would arrive in time for lunch!
At 2:53 pm I received a text saying my Market Wagon order had been delivered. This was odd, since I was working in my office facing the street and hadn't seen any cars approach my house. Still, I excitedly checked the porch. Nope. My empty cooler was still sitting there.
Market Wagon not only texts you when your order arrives, they also send you an email with a link to a form to report any problems. After waiting 15 minutes I clicked the email link and filled in a form stating my order was not delivered.
An autoresponder email said the company would get back to me within 24 hours. Instead of waiting that long, I had an email response just 6 minutes later. Maggie from Market Wagon informed me she reached out to my driver and the Hub Coordinator to try to locate my delivery get it to me.
Long story short, my order arrived later that day. (Still cold in the insulated tote.)
The real test of a company is how they deal with problems and how they communicate with their customers. At least in my experience, Market Wagon passed with flying colors.
Grits with roasted turnips and pan-seared shiitake mushrooms from Market Wagon. Delish!
Shopping with Market Wagon vs. shopping an in-person farmer’s market.
Likely you've visited farmer's markets before. Some, like the one in my city, are very small with just a handful of vendors. Others, like the City Market in Kansas City (25 minutes away), have dozens and dozens of farmers and artisans, as well as representation by restaurants, stores, and shops.
Browsing an in-person farmer's market can be lots of fun! Or it can be hot, crowded, and stressful.
Summer produce! I roasted the corn, made pickled red onions, and enjoyed fresh fruit on my yogurt!
Here's how shopping with Market Wagon compares with shopping at an in-person farmer's market.
Farmer's markets have specific days and times you can shop. You can shop at Market Wagon 24/7.
With a farmer's market, you may have lots of vendors or very little variety. Market Wagon has an ever-growing amount of farmers and local artisans providing goods.
You might enjoy being outdoors on a beautiful sunny day shopping at a farmer's market. Or the weather might be cold, rainy, or windy. With Market Wagon, the weather outside has zero impact on your ability to shop.
You likely have to drive and find parking at a local farmer's market. The City Market I mentioned is about 25 minutes from my house and, because it is so large, parking is sometimes hard to find. You can shop Market Wagon right from your phone in your bed or on the couch.
Maybe it's just me, but I sometimes have trouble deciding what to buy at a farmer's market. I like to check out everything and then go back to find the vendors I want to purchase from. With Market Wagon you can take your time shopping. Add items to your cart, remove some, add others, all before you checkout. I can pull up recipes I want to make and see if I can purchase ingredients locally.
You better bring a tote bag if you shop a farmer's market! You'll be carrying all your purchases which sometimes can get heavy and unwieldy. Market Wagon delivers all your goodies right to your door in an insulated tote.
While some vendors at a farmer's market take credit cards, many require cash. I rarely carry cash anymore and find paying with cash a hassle. Market Wagon accepts major credit cards and Paypal. You pay once, rather than paying each individual vendor.
If you are unhappy with any purchase from a farmer's market you're probably out of luck. Market Wagon has customer service to deal with any issues you may have.
My experience and do I recommend Market Wagon?
Now that you know the types of meats, fruits, veggies, dairy products, and prepared foods you can buy on Market Wagon, and know how exactly the process works, I want to share my personal thoughts.
I like my grocery dollars going to local farms and businesses.
As I mentioned, the prices on Market Wagon seem a tiny bit higher than what I pay at my local Hy-Vee or Super Target, but I feel good about that little splurge when my money supports local farms and businesses.
I am very impressed with the quality of the produce, meats, dairy, and prepared foods I’ve purchased.
I’ve purchased tomatoes from a few different farms and each time they are juicy, sweet, brilliantly red, and delicious. Not at all like the pale, tasteless tomatoes from the grocery store. I am a huge fan of the jalapeno cheddar sourdough bread I buy regularly. I’ve enjoyed sun-ripened bell peppers and freshly snipped microgreens. I’ve made burgers with grass-fed ground beef and snacked on smoked cheese curds.
Some foods I’ve liked better than others. I’ve discovered I’m not a fan of turnips. But the quality of everything I’ve purchased is top-notch.
I love the convenience of shopping online and having my order delivered.
One of the very few benefits of covid is curbside pickup and grocery and food delivery. During the pandemic, I’ve become used to shopping online and honestly I have almost zero desire to grocery shop in-person.
Browsing Market Wagon on my phone or computer while I’m meal planning is convenient, and having the order delivered to my door is a huge plus.
Shopping Market Wagon regularly I feel a connection with the farmers and artisans I purchase from.
I don’t know any of these farmers or vendors personally, but through shopping regularly I start to feel a connection with them. It feels like these are real people I am supporting, not just a faceless corporation.
Let me give you a few examples of what I mean.
I purchased homemade zucchini bread from Schenker Family Farms a few times. It is delicious, by the way! Early in November, I received an email from Kevin and Cherie of Schenker Farms offering a free mini loaf of pumpkin bread as a way to say thank you for my business. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture and is a reminder that my food dollars are supporting local working families.
Another reminder that my shopping dollars are supporting people in my community happened yesterday. I got a hand-written thank you card in the mail! I purchased Dorothy’s Power Gruel (which is a multi-grain, multi-seed breakfast cereal) which is not only super healthy, but super filling. Kent and Sue from Dorothy’s Power Foods took the time to hand-write a card thanking me for my purchase. I don’t even get thank you cards when I send Christmas gifts to friends and family! I was like a little kid showing my husband the note and saying “I can’t believe they took the time to write this and mail it to me!”
Even if you don’t get a free loaf of pumpkin bread, or a hand-written note, know that your purchases are supporting REAL people in your community.
This is why I love and support Market Wagon.
One of my favorite summer meals from Market Wagon! Toasted cheddar-jalapeno sourdough bread, red ripe tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and topped with microgreens, and oven-roasted yellow, purple, and sweet potatoes!!
Do I recommend Market Wagon?
I absolutely recommend you try Market Wagon. Because there are no subscriptions or added fees, there is no reason not to try it once to see what you think. All you pay for are the foods you purchase, tax if you are in a state that taxes food, and the flat-rate delivery fee.
You may find it a bit easier to part with your precious food dollars when they are supporting local farms and businesses. You may find yourself enjoying more fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats, and dairy. You too may fall in love with artisan baked goods. You may even find yourself making healthier choices, incorporating more vegetables, fresh herbs, and fruits into your cooking.
I hope you enjoyed this review of Market Wagon. If it’s available in your area, I hope you give it a try and experiment with local eating and supporting your community!
—The Keto Minimalist
